Inappropriate interview questions

[30andgrey]

I just turned down a job offer because I deemed these questions inappropriate….AIBU?

1. How many times have you been on maternity leave during your current employment?

2. What are the details of your childcare arrangements?

3. What does a normal day look like for you in terms of balancing raising a young family and a senior post?

The above questions were asked in a telephone conversation after a panel interview.

Anyone else think these are extremely discriminatory?

I turned down the offer that was 4 pay scales higher than my current role because it seemed like they were asking me to prioritise work if it came to it and I had to go over and above to assure them that being a parent would not hinder my ability to do the role.

Would love to know if I’m an idiot for turning down a whopping pay increase or if I am reasonable for thinking it would have been a nightmare to work for an organisation with this mindset.

Agree it is controversial asking if you plan to have a child. People change their minds anyway.

About childcare it is just a way to see if you are going to be a RELIABLE employee. At this stage they dont know anything about you. so what if they are nosey just tell them you have a nanny/ childcare in or whatever you have in place you dont have to go into detail, they just want to know you are RELIABLE.
Once you are there you can demonstrate you are a good employee.

@forinborin

Yep. Mostly they quote the EA2010 Guidance Notes. Examples in the notes are nowhere close to the ones on the thread.

The Government link which I posted on Page 2 of this thread states: *Questions you cannot ask when recruiting You must not ask candidates about ‘protected characteristics’ or whether they: are married, single or in a civil partnership have children or plan to have children*

I think the second of those is pretty damned close to asking how many times you have been on maternity leave…

@Neighneigh

I think it definitely shows the mindset of a company and agree with pp about whether they'd ask a man those questions.

Incidentally I was asked once "how would your husband describe you".....didn't get offered the job but did raise it with the hiring manager who gave me an 'oh ha ha he can be like that' answer. Bullet dodged. And kicked myself for not saying my husband is irrelevant to my career!!

Wonder what they would have said to me, I have a wife.

@Thanksgiving21

Agree it is controversial asking if you plan to have a child. People change their minds anyway.

About childcare it is just a way to see if you are going to be a RELIABLE employee. At this stage they dont know anything about you. so what if they are nosey just tell them you have a nanny/ childcare in or whatever you have in place you dont have to go into detail, they just want to know you are RELIABLE.
Once you are there you can demonstrate you are a good employee.

There are better ways to assess if you are going to be a reliable employee. What if you don't have children? Do you automatically assume they're reliable? How does asking about childcare actually prove anything about reliability??

You should not be asking about children or childcare as part of the recruitment process full stop.

As you declined to answer, explaining why (which was exactly what you should have done) and they still offered you the job, I think in the same position I would have been inclined to take the offer.

@Thanksgiving21

Agree it is controversial asking if you plan to have a child. People change their minds anyway.

About childcare it is just a way to see if you are going to be a RELIABLE employee. At this stage they dont know anything about you. so what if they are nosey just tell them you have a nanny/ childcare in or whatever you have in place you dont have to go into detail, they just want to know you are RELIABLE.
Once you are there you can demonstrate you are a good employee.

It's not going to tell them how RELIABLE and candidate is anyway. No one going to say actually I have a nanny but she's sick all the time, it's a real pain. Or my mum, in failing health, helps me out as much as she can.

They'll say I'm really lucky, I have the best nanny or GPs love having them .

Plus if you don't check men are RELIABLE in the same way you are being disciminatory.

Really.stupid questions all told.

They should ask if men are reliable also.

@Thanksgiving21

They should ask if men are reliable also.

Why does a question about childcare prove reliability? What if you don't have children. How will you measure reliability then?

Ask about anything that could make someone unreliable. Extra long commute, unreliable trains, regular medical check ups etc..

[quote LittleDandelionClock]@30andgrey

Of COURSE it's a bit shit, but tbf, a woman (who has school age children) IS going to be more of a liability to many employers than a man.

People say 'well you know they wouldn't have asked a man that!' Well of course they wouldn't, because their job and the ability to do it, isn't going to be affected by babies/young children as much as a woman.

A bitter pill to swallow, and for people to admit, but it's true. A man isn't going to go off for a year on maternity leave (and possibly never return) is he? And a man isn't going to be called out every other week because the kid is ill, or the childminder is ill and needs the kid to be picked up. And a man isn't going to be taking time off to spend time with the sick child.

You can all argue differently, but as I said, rightly or wrongly, many employers see women - especially child bearing age - as much more of a liability than a man... So yep, a woman is far more likely to be asked these questions. Not great and not nice, but understandable IMO.

@Decaffe

All three of those questions are illegal.

Do you have a source for this statement?[/quote]
My husband is the one school calls, my husband can work from home...

I'm a senior teacher in my school and so any childcare issues fall to my husband.

Our parents both help if need be to.

Your comments are ridiculous.

Astonished at some of the comments on this thread! Do people honestly go around thinking like this in 2021?!

The questions were discriminatory and completely inappropriate. Bullet dodged.

They sound like cunts. I can understand why they'd want to know the answers to those questions but they shouldn't bloody be asking them!

My husband is the one school calls, my husband can work from home...

I'm a senior teacher in my school and so any childcare issues fall to my husband.

My husband was main carer, I worked away from home a lot. He worked a little over a mile from home and the primary school was almost en-route. He walked them to school every morning (unless I was at home). Any issues they still called me even if I was away, I'd then have to call him. They couldn't quite get the idea that dad was the one to call not mum.

I would be asking a question along the lines of “Are these questions asked of all interviewees including males”

If not, unfair and biased questions if only asked to a female but that is my humble opinion 😳

You can only prove it's discriminatory if you can prove they didn't ask these or similar questions to male candidates.

One school I worked at sent the receptionist to give candidates a tour and have a friendly chat. She always found out exactly how many children they had, ages, sickness history, childcare arrangements. They knew they couldn't ask it in an interview, but the receptionist could be interested in her potential new colleagues....

@Thanksgiving21

Ask about anything that could make someone unreliable. Extra long commute, unreliable trains, regular medical check ups etc..

Regular medical check ups..... so not only are you advocating sex discrimination you're also going for discrimination based on disability!!

You categorically should not be asking anyone about childcare or about their medical history.

@Sharletonz

I don't think the details of childcare arrangements are anything to be wary of, my nhs employer asked me how old my daughter was and what childcare I had in place, didn't seem discriminatory to me. The maternity leave question and typical day question sound a bit off, but again I wouldn't let it put me off, as long as you were open and honest in the interview it's not something they can hold against you.

I just have to ask, are you a man or a woman?

[quote LittleDandelionClock]@30andgrey

Of COURSE it's a bit shit, but tbf, a woman (who has school age children) IS going to be more of a liability to many employers than a man.

People say 'well you know they wouldn't have asked a man that!' Well of course they wouldn't, because their job and the ability to do it, isn't going to be affected by babies/young children as much as a woman.

A bitter pill to swallow, and for people to admit, but it's true. A man isn't going to go off for a year on maternity leave (and possibly never return) is he? And a man isn't going to be called out every other week because the kid is ill, or the childminder is ill and needs the kid to be picked up. And a man isn't going to be taking time off to spend time with the sick child.

You can all argue differently, but as I said, rightly or wrongly, many employers see women - especially child bearing age - as much more of a liability than a man... So yep, a woman is far more likely to be asked these questions. Not great and not nice, but understandable IMO.

@Decaffe

All three of those questions are illegal.

Do you have a source for this statement?[/quote]
Your argument almost holds water, except that a single father raising children on his own would still not be asked that question even though he would be just as much of a liability if not more so, because he does not have a partner to share the load with.

There is no logic behind this, just prejudice.

Ye Gods. I'm presuming they're either a tiny company without a good (or any) HR team? (Though I have also worked for large organisations with large recruitment teams whose knowledge of case law and some employment legislation has been inconsistent, depending on which HR person you get.) I'm sure you've let it drop for now, and I don't care if they were offering a 9 figure salary with the moon on a stick, I think you definitely made the right choice.

The way they're going, though, it wouldn't be a surprise if they find themselves in front of a tribunal at some point...

Some of the responses have my eyebrows on the ceiling as well, although they're apparently not uncommon: www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/newsletters/employment-update/feb-18-myth-its-acceptable-to-ask-a-female-candidate-if-shes-pregnant-or-has-children and www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/newsletters/employment-update/feb-18-myth-its-acceptable-to-ask-a-female-candidate-if-shes-pregnant-or-has-children

(Other websites are available!)

Rats, just realised that was the same link twice! Oh, for a correct button!

This is absolutely ridiculous! Time and time again evidence has shown that women who are treated well in the workplace are more likely to be loyal to their employers than their male colleagues. Hiring a young man might seem like a good investment but young men are statistically more likely to move jobs faster and use a job as a springboard for their next job. You might train a young man for a job and he might be gone in a year or two.

I'll be going on my second maternity next year, I feel very happy and respected in my workplace so I can't see myself wanting to leave anytime soon. Furthermore, my colleague who has older children has been on long term sick leave since September.

Since becoming a mother I'm definitely more efficient. The tasks that used to take me hours take me half the time now. I've only had a handful of instances I've had to pick DD up early or keep her at home due to illness, and as others have pointed out it may well be the dad who can WFH or take time off.

A much more sensible question would have been something like "Are you able to work flexibly?" or "Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?", and these question should apply to all candidates equally.

@TillyTopper

You can only prove it's discriminatory if you can prove they didn't ask these or similar questions to male candidates.

Precisely how many males do you think were asked this question?

How many times have you been on maternity leave during your current employment?

It makes me so angry that such discrimination still exists. In recent interviews I have been asked (by more than one company) what my child care arrangements are generally, who will look after the kids if they are unwell, whether I've considered that I'd have to travel on a busy motorway every day and would I be okay with that, and whether I could drop everything at short notice to work in another part of the country for a few days if they deemed it necessary (this had not been mentioned as a requirement of the job in the advert, job description or first interview!). I withdrew my application and set out exactly why.
My husband is equally responsible for our kids. He has never, not once, been asked anything of the kind.
You've dodged a bullet OP, sorry you've experienced such discrimination - make sure you call them out on it.